Charting New Paths – Building Digital Tools for COPD and Beyond

By: Valentina Gnanapragasam

Managing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is challenging for both patients and primary care practitioners (PCPs). Despite having clinical guidelines, PCPs often struggle to integrate them into their workflows effectively. This results in missed opportunities for timely and evidence-based care. Additionally, Ontario’s fragmented healthcare system makes it difficult to share patient data across platforms, limiting the effectiveness of digital tools like Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS).

COPD costs Ontario’s healthcare system $1.5 billion annually, making it one of the most significant chronic disease burdens. PCPs are tasked with managing complex cases, often without the real-time insights needed to make optimal decisions. For patients, this can mean delayed diagnoses, suboptimal care plans, and poorer outcomes. Without interoperable digital tools, the healthcare system struggles to efficiently connect the dots between data, care teams, and clinical guidelines, perpetuating inefficiencies and higher costs.

Addressing this issue requires the collaboration of several key stakeholders:

• Primary Care Practitioners (PCPs): Key users of CDSS tools, who need streamlined solutions that integrate seamlessly into their workflows.
• Healthcare Policymakers: Essential for developing and enforcing interoperability standards like SMART on FHIR.
• Technology Vendors: Responsible for building and customizing CDSS solutions that align with Ontario’s healthcare needs.
• Patients and Caregivers: Stakeholders whose lived experiences can guide the design of user-friendly tools.
• Healthcare Organizations and Administrators: Crucial for implementing CDSS across clinics and ensuring alignment with care model

The proposed solution is the integration of SMART on FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standards into Clinical Decision Support Systems. These standards enable seamless data sharing across electronic medical records (EMRs), breaking down silos and providing real-time, evidence-based recommendations to PCPs. By aligning CDSS with interoperable standards, policymakers and stakeholders can ensure tools are not only effective but scalable across Ontario’s healthcare system. Incentives for adoption, PCP training programs, and a collaborative design process involving patients and clinicians are also critical components.

If we address these challenges, Ontario’s healthcare system will become more connected, efficient, and patient-centered. PCPs will have access to actionable, real-time insights at the point of care, improving treatment decisions and patient outcomes. Patients with COPD will benefit from earlier diagnoses, personalized care plans, and better disease management. Ultimately, this will reduce the overall burden on the healthcare system, driving down costs and creating a more sustainable, high-quality healthcare environment.

This vision doesn’t just stop with COPD—it sets the foundation for applying these digital health innovations to other chronic conditions, paving the way for a future where technology and care go hand in hand to enhance lives.